The Joy of Learning

Instructional Design

I figured out how to have even more fun and make my course even more exciting! Bonk!

On my About page (scroll down), I quote Professor Curtis J. Bonk, who writes extensively about how exciting learning becomes when combined with the Internet. I must say, I must agree! I don't understand why, I don't get how, but I do get it! In all my courses so far, grounding my creative work online is what has sealed the deal for me, learning-wise. It somehow makes it more relevant and meaningful. I don't know, something about pushing buttons and choosing colors and fonts; it's just a really exciting medium!

I decided to ground my course design work in a computerized learning program, and it worked - my course design become even more exciting!

I must equate joy with excitement.

When you follow your joy, that's great, you get joy, you go for joy. But somehow the key word for me has become excitement, which includes joy. Excitement has become my guiding star which leads me to seriously rich experiences which fulfill my life - which brings me joy!

I don't know, maybe it does have something to do with the speed, as Bonk suggests. I just don't know. Maybe it's just my "thing." Do a lot of other people feel this way?

I know what it is! The computer is set up like the human brain; I think this is widely acknowledged. I think we could all agree, again, that the Internet is a thinking tool, something that helps our thinking. But get this: When we create web sites and set up links and write content and come up with graphics and all the other things we get to do while creating online, we are directly mimicking our own individual human brains! That is why it is so exciting!!! We get to essentially download our own brain structure onto the screen using online tools! Now that is truly exciting, creating an online reflection of what is in our brains! It's analagous to how movies reflect life; the Net reflects brains. And hearts and minds and art and structure. That works for me. And you know what else works for me?

Maybe it's my toddler self coming alive again. Pushing buttons and getting reactions.